Introduction

The Classic Age of Ancient India roughly

corresponded, in the chronology of world history,
to that ofAncient Greece - 700 BC to 350 BC.
It was preceded by the Vedic Age, in which tribal
societies of Indo-European origin, dominated by
warrior chiefs, had established themselves in northern
India.
The Classical Age saw the rebirth of urban civilization
in ancient India, and with it, a literate culture. It was
an age of amazing religious creativity, with the birth of
two new religions, Jainism and Buddhism. The latter
would go on to become one of the great world
religions, influential throughout all the countries of
East Asia and of South East Asia. Within the clourse
of later Indian history it would eventually almost die
out, though not before profoundly transforming
Hinduism, making it the religion it is today.
This period of Indian history ended with the rise of the
first great imperial state in ancient India, the Mauryan
empire, after 320 BC.

Map of India in the Classical Age, 500 BC

Iron, farming, trade and writing
The use of iron spread into present-day Pakistan and
northern India after 800 BC. Iron tools were much
more effective for clearing land than were the old
stone and wooden tools, and huge tracts of new land
were brought into use for productive agriculture.

Farming populations previously established around

the fringes of the densely forested Ganges plain now
moved in to colonize the heart of the river plain.
This area, with its well-watered, very fertile farmland
would, over the coming centuries, become home to a
huge population, and become the heartland of ancient
Indian civilization. Villages grew; some became small
towns, then larger towns, and then cities, as large as
those in contemporary Greece and China. Trade
networks gradually extended throughout India, and far
beyond. They crossed the mountain passes in the
west to central Asia and the Middle East; they ran
along the Iranian coast to the Gulf; and probed
outwards across the sea, spanning the Indian Ocean
to Arabia and east Africa. To the east, the trade routes
went down the coast to the island of Sri Lanka, along
the coasts of Burma and Thailand, and on into South
East Asia. Metal currency was minted in ancient India
before the 5th century BC, a sure sign of the
importance of trade.

The Founder of Jainism

The expansion of cities and trade led to the

introduction (or perhaps re-introduction) of writing into
ancient India. A script that came into wide use was
based on the Aramean alphabet which had come into
widespread use throughout the Assyrian, Babylonian
and Persian empires of the Middle East at this time.
This fact is evidence of the growing trade links
between India and the Middle East at this period of
Indian history.
New states

With trade came walled towns and cities, and with

towns and cities came organized states. By 500 BC
sixteen large states covered northern and northcentral India. Most of these were kingdoms, where
centralised authority emanated out from royal
palaces, located in the leading new cities of the
region.

Timemap of the New States of Classical Age India

Some of these states, however, were not kingdoms,

but were ruled by groups of nobles. Modern scholars
have labelled these state "republics". These tended to
be established in the mountainous fringes of the
Ganges plain, where, in landscapes of hills and

valleys, centralised authority could not prevail against

the entrenched power of local clan chiefs. These
states were governed by councils of nobles, and
formed the only republics to flourish in the ancient
world outside the Mediterranean.
Religious disquiet
The traditional Vedic religion was a communal one,
well adapted to small-scale tribal societies but less so
to the larger, more complex ones that were emerging
in ancient India at this period of history. A growing
number of merchants, officials and other urban-base
people began looking for a more personal religious
experience, one which would speak to their individual
need for salvation. Moreover, by the 6th century BC
the old religion had become characterised by a high
degree of ceremonial. This gave a dominant place to
the priests of the Brahmin caste, and some leading
members of the evolving society were uncomfortable
and felt the need to challenge the Brahmins'
monopoly over spiritual matters.
These tensions had a profoundly creative impact on
the religious life of ancient India by producing two new
religions, Jianism and Buddhism. Jainism was
founded by Mahariva ("The Great Hero", lived c. 540-

468 BC). He emphasised an aspect already present

in early Hinduism, non-violence to all living things.
The Jains also promoted the renunciation of worldly
desires and an ascetic way of life, sometimes to the
point of self-torture.
Buddhism was founded by Gautama Siddharta, the
Buddha ("The Enlightened One", lived c. 565 to 485
BC). He came to believe that extreme asceticism was
not a fruitful basis for a spiritual life. However, like
Jains, Buddhists believed that the release from
worldly desires was the way to salvation. In daily life,
Buddhists emphasised the importance of ethical
behaviour.

Painting of Buddha ("The Englightened One")

(Read more on ancient Indian

literature and science, including from the Classical
period)

Classical India's place in World History

The emergence of a religious culture in which
Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism emerged as three
distinct religions was a development of great
importance in world history. Jainism remained a

minority religion, practised only in India and never

numbering more than a million or so adherents
(mainly in urban, merchant communities). Hinduism
also remained (until modern times) confined to the
sub-continent, and is the dominant faith of a billion
Indians today. Buddhism, meanwhile, has spread far
and wide outside South Asia. In the course of India's
history it would cease to be a widely-practised faith
within India itself, but would have a deep impact upon
societies in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and South
East Asia. It is now spreading fast amongst peoples in
the West, where by some counts it is the fastest
growing religion.
The fact that billions of people today practice religions
which had their origin in ancient India is not the only
significance of this period of Indian civilization. The
interaction between three rival but closely related
faiths produced a rich and tolerant dialogue between
them. Competing speculations about both religious
and (what we would call) scientific issues were freely
pursued.
In time, several centuries after the close of this
formative period of Indian civilization, this lively
intellectual culture would produce crucially important
advances in human thought. For the history of the

world at large, the discoveries of mathematical

concepts such as zero and decimal places would,
when they spread to the Middle East and then
Europe, have the most dramatic impact on scientific
and technological progress.
Next article: The Mauryan Empire
Map: Ancient India and South Asia in 500 BC
Further Ancient India links:
Articles on Ancient India:
Ancient India - an overview of the civilization of
Ancient India
The Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient India

The Vedic Age of Ancient India

The Mauryan empire of Ancient India
History maps of Ancient India:

Ancient India and South Asia in 3500 BC:

Prehistory

Ancient India and South Asia in 2500 BC: Indus

Valley Civilization

Ancient India and South Asia in 1500 BC: The

Aryan Migrations

Ancient India and South Asia in 1000 BC: The

Vedic Age

Ancient India and South Asia in 500 BC: India at

the time of the Buddha
Ancient India and South Asia in 200 BC: The
Mauryan empire